Facts About Captivity

Space is limited, which sparks aggression and frustration. When faced with an aggressor, dolphins in the wild can easily swim away to avoid an interaction. Instead captive dolphins often bear scars or rake marks, evidence of a clash with a tank mate.

Prolonged confinement in such small quarters can lead to depression and self-harming behaviors. Numerous documented examples of such behavior have been observed in both dolphins and orcas, such as repeated smashing of heads against tank walls or gnawing on walls and gates. You can read more about Hugo and Morgan’s documented behaviors in captivity.

Dolphins living in captive conditions are often placed in unnatural groupings with dolphins that have come from different families and species, making communication between them difficult or impossible.

Because tanks and pens at captive facilities have limited depth, dolphins in captivity frequently experience overexposure to the sun, which can result in sunburn and blistering. Often zinc oxide must be applied to their backs to prevent damage. The reflection of sunlight on the water’s surface can also lead to vision problems. Additionally, tanks are often heavily chlorinated, which leads to burning the eyes and causing permanent damage to eyesight.

Labeled as “positive reinforcement” or “operant conditioning”, dolphins are kept hungry enough so that they will comply with instructions from trainers, whether to learn new behaviors or to execute them during a performance or swim-with-dolphin encounter.

In some facilities, the water is improperly treated and maintained, with litter from park customers thrown into tanks, or bacterial growths which lead to lesions and open sores. Other dolphin facilities in sea lagoons near cruise ports collect fuel runoff from ship motors and other marine waste.

Image of a dolphin sea pen in Mexico, taken July 2020.

Dolphins who participate in swim with interactions are regularly observed with persistent wounds and abrasions from being handled by customers, their beaks raw from pushing guests through the water or being grasped for kisses and photo ops. Other wounds are observed as the result of aggressive outbursts from tank companions, as bullying has been regularly documented. Dolphin and whales in captivity are often documented with compromised teeth, often the result of frustrated chewing on their tank walls.

For captive orcas, confinement in small tanks leads to the well-documented “fin flop” in male orcas, a condition noted in 100% of captive male orcas and less than 1% in wild male orcas.